PC work not as lonely as it used to be

In the beginning, personal computers were for loners. You sat at the desk and stared at the screen. To involve anyone else in what you were doing, you had to pull up an extra chair at that same desk, or carry a printout or floppy disk containing your work to a friend's or a workmate's machine.

Working with computers became interesting, as opposed to merely useful, when it became a social activity. E-mail was the first big step, and the Internet the second. Now, with the BlackBerry and Skype and municipal WiFi and the omnipresent cellphone, it is tempting to think that technology has given us too many ways to stay in touch.